Over two million Muslim pilgrims hurled pebbles at three columns in a symbolic stoning of the devil as part of the annual Haj pilgrimage on Tuesday. 

 

Clad in white robes the pilgrims from 165 countries converged on Jamarat Al-Aqaba to perform the ritual from a three-storey bridge erected to ease congestion.

 

The massive congregation of pilgrims had spent the previous night camped in Muzdalifah, having performed the most important of the Haj rituals, visiting mount Arafat, where they believe the Prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon.

 

The final days of Haj coincide with the Eid Al-Adha holiday, or "Feast of Sacrifice." Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states celebrated Eid Al-Adha today.

 

Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Governor of Makkah Region and Chairman of the Central Haj Committee; and Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Makkah Region, threw pebbles at Jamarat Al-Aqaba and performed Tawaf at the Grand Mosque today.

 

This came after the Governor of Makkah Region and his deputy supervised the movement of the pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifah.

 

Meanwhile, the Saudi General Directorate of Passports stressed that pilgrims coming from abroad to perform Haj should not travel outside Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah.

 

The Saudi authorities have deployed more than 130,000 security forces and medics as well as modern technology including surveillance drones to maintain order.